thinkwithgoogle what else

Hello,

if you haven't stumbleupon this insightful intuitive webpage from Google then you are missing nothing except information which might be a good read.


http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/


Brand Insights , analysis rich article , examples , market research all coming together ...

brand infiltrating mobiles

being mobile is the popular slogan which is not published yet...however the other popular slogan are tending in the fancy smartphones of the mo-humans.
we are yet to discover the amazingness in coming years as the planets is still identifying the fitting contents in the world of mobile ads.
Further the regional dimensions of ads also vary in terms of content , technology (form and service) and the consumption pattern.
Ad companies are optimistic
Ad companies are adding into the space
Ad companies are discussing apps to flash into smartphones
Ad companies will rely on m-commercial activity



As we analyze the potential of mobile ad market which in one word is jackpot to marketers.
global-mobile-advertising--statistics-and-trends  (pls enlarge once the link opens into new page)

 Mobile world will excite the new and existing Brands  into the minds of the consumer.
Content is king ...the content needs to be smartphone enabled.
some of the unavoidable mobile trends i could perceive :

• Participative and interactive mobile ad ( released as early as 2001 by MIT communication / Wieden + Kennedy in New York.  )
• Informative mobile ad
• Crowd sourcing

the above sums high level trends. However participative ads will see lot of traction in terms of consumer inquisitiveness. content will be the crowd puller. There would be deifferent facets to participation ...forced participation ( contest ) is one of them. There are talking Brands which are touching consumer minds as long as consumer is with his/ her mobiles....

Technology will idealise the concept of participation and there would be version available as the market matures. Brand will become very lean and data centric before being targeted in the form of ads to consumers.

All these factors will refresh Brand strategy , rather force Brands to reinvent into new form factors. Of course Brands are device agnostic but content is not ....till date . And then there are platforms / OS / ecosystem /

Ramping up on mobile

Brand presence within 5 inch screen or more is as challenging  as interesting as we think of it...then comes the CTR (click through rate) questions ... Brands are revamping its Aps with new navigation and deeper enhancements of content .

 What are the Ad Format :

Mobile banners
Customs
Interstitials
App lists ( ad units)
Panels

Enter the Cloud

Cloud computing eliminates the need to wait...
So we don't need to wait for the brand to knock the mobile doors - it would cloud the imagination of the consumer. But how effective cloud will prove to the advertisers wooing the gen X Y Zs.., even I am not that sure (means I will keep googling) till I am posting my research outcome in my next blog in 2014 !?

some points to pin under the cloud ...how advertisement should affect the way we treat brands.

in cloud - there would be multiple point of contact for a brand to ad
in cloud - technology is available and it is available for less ( so regional brand can out perform)
in cloud - ads could be device agnostic / platform , OS , consumer agnostic :)
in cloud - again content will rule and not the container #pj
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in cloud -  advertisers might not be sure / analytics should save the media planner

media planner - I don't want to get into this topic.... as of now.

So what is the all the above getting into...it is getting into the fact that technology is the talk of the town ..creativity is now tech dependent... television is still a medium of info-tainment but mobile is eating the consumption time.
All in all we are into exciting times...

thanks

 

Apps adding zing to Brand

 

Apple is an iconic brand, but what differentiated it to be in that phenomenal club of brands was its cutting edge technology and technology and technology. I just tried to cover everything when I said technology. And for last few years there are similar brands in the handheld technology segment ,  churning out new version and upgrades and form factors from their stable. But the how long , yes not any more . Not anymore consumer would be so fascinated by the look that is on diet … because you see we have a NOTE by Samsung which is little to sleek and little too big for my pocket. Still it is fascinating! Why … well the write up till now seems to me as if I am talking about the hardware form factor dynamics in the mobile market. Certainly not!.

We should observe that mobile and PCs are no longer a reason for customer choice , only because you are a great brand ,as nowadays everyone is hiring TQM leaders in their R&D and providing best in class in their best in the price segment. Brand is no longer identified in the minds of the consumer in the technology segment. It is the APPLICATION and the attached services which would and is creating all the differences to that sleekest handheld device in your hand.

To give straight explanation of the above, let me as consumer share my thoughts. Some of the brands which I associate with its software OS  platform are:

Samsung / HTC / GOOGLE / Motorola ---------- Android

NOKIA -----------  Windows mobile and Nokia OS

Apple -------------     iOS

Blackberry ------------    BB OS ( QNX launched Q1 FY12)

Now why I will buy Samsung …because I like Android phones, there are so many options and its cheaper than Apple

Apple coz I like iOSlllll  and it has cool application , and ya I have money ;)

Blackberry coz I am very smart and I have the BBM power

Nokia  because I like Nokia

So those were some very raw possibilities of consumer  purchasing behavior . Then comes some of the economic factor like price and miro factor color , style, etc.

What I wanted to highlight is that APPs are the factor which would give brand a sustainable push in the market going forward. We see ads in all forms of commercials talking only about the APPs in the products and any slightest differences are definitely making news and views and of course a boost in the brand equity.

Another new technology in the apps word is the cloud technology. This is again would be a strategic for many brands in coming days. Apple is already talking about the cloud service in its iPhone 4S. 

Another trend coming in my mind is the mobile technology space is the security/ anti virus applications for handheld device. Kespersky are the only one which is already in my mind which started early with its commercials for Antivirus software for mobile phones (specially in India)

Similar ways there are many apps in game and entertainment segment , finance etc which are creating their ow identity which big brands are using it to co-Brand with their product to up stick sales….

So isn’t this a new trend in the brand management …. Hopefully !!!

 

facebook retooled

(My view: The latest move by team facebook is to offer business users more intuitive and redeeming feel to the facebook page. This is another way to counter the Google + syndrome slowly picking up...the argument I had already posted sometime back )

SOURCE : AdAge Digital  

Facebook today unveiled a major redesign to its profile pages called Timeline, which transforms the list of status messages and comments into a scrapbook of a user's entire history on the platform. Even though this transforms the entire aesthetic and function of profile pages, this doesn't apply to brands and their pages.

While the updates revealed at Facebook's F8 conference add a suite of new tools for users to express what they are interested in -- like music, recipes, TV shows and news -- there's little detail on what brand pages will look like going forward. What we do know is that they won't look exactly like Timeline, but, according to Facebook VP-Global Marketing Solutions David Fischer, will be "consistent" with the Timeline look-and-feel, which is picture-heavy and curated to highlight only the most important events in a user's life.

The new Timeline pages let users feature any content -- check-ins, photos or other updates -- in longer-view reverse chronological order. So instead of the status updates and likes from the last week or month of activity, a user profile page can look like a summary of his or her entire existence on the social network.

"It suddenly gives [users] the opportunity to share what business you're in, the products you're using or buying and sharing that with your friends," said Mr. Fischer.

Users can also tack applications from media companies and developers on their timelines. For example, with the Nike Plus app, users can publish the runs and distances recorded on its mobile app straight to Facebook pages. Media behavior can also be stored there with top-viewed movies or TV shows or favorite songs or albums gleaned from apps from Hulu, Netflix or Spotify respectively.

So what's the opportunity for marketers?

The most immediate implications are for entertainment marketers. Now that users can share what they are listening to, watching or reading on Facebook through media partner applications, marketers can grab those mentions and give them wider distribution through sponsored stories. So far, marketers have only been able to take users' check-ins or status updates about their brands and distribute them to a wider Facebook audience. Sony Pictures for the upcoming movie "Moneyball" plans to promote when users watch the trailer; the band Coldplay will promote when users are listening to its music.

"Marketers want to promote stories about the things they're affiliated with but don't always own the apps," said Gokul Rajaram, Facebook Ads director of product management, referring to apps from services such as Spotify, Netflix or Hulu that allow users to share what content they're consuming. "Now you can promote stories from any app about objects you own, not just from the page owned by the marketer."

But for Facebook, which eMarketer predicts will clear $3.8 billion from advertising this year, will all these changes add up to more revenue? "Anything that increases engagement on Facebook, and captures more user data, will drive up ad revenues," said Hussein Fazal, CEO of Ad Parlor. "The announcements today definitely hit both of these key points."

This also opens up a whole new way to target. What users are listening to, watching or reading now will become a filter to serve ads against. For now, this new way to target ads will only be available through Facebook Ads' API and its direct sales team.

I call this process re-Branding

As per sources, Google’s new social media platform, Google Plus, is the result of an ambitious and earnest effort by Google at social networking. However it is also revealed that Google was not investing heavily enough in social networking as rival Facebook. It seems the company is working hard to adding the millions of users with a PLUS. The PLUS will allow people to share links and media among people they have divided into “circles” based on their relationships. The trend I guess would be followed with the gamut of social media offers like YouTube.
Even if Google + team is not blindly following Facebook and Twitter, but they are following them :P
Google + will bring the cult back and dominate the socializing space … I have no idea. But let’s get some perspective into the argument.

Late realization
I guess it’s better to be late than never. And it also came from top executive “It is about time we have come to the realization, if you don’t know people, then you can’t organize the information for people.”
I think Google has the right platform already set, and it would be a natural progression to reorganize with social and search touch.
Also one should not forget several failed attempts by Google to create Buzz in the social space. But with mixed experience I think it should be a good for Google to PLUS.

Attempt is the other name for RISK in social networking domain
The first mover advantage is true in love, war and now socializing. Google is the best search engine. Facebook is the best social networking site. Any foray into another field, through imitating or whatever, though good for expansion and diversification of portfolio, would be a good attempt or rather a social RISK.

Why suddenly :
Is it…Google Plus to Challenge Facebook in Brand Ads???
Of course its just want to socialize ..its money and its big and growing. As per MAGNAGLOBAL, it is expected that the online advertising to collectively grow by 11.7% in 2011 and by an average rate of 11.0% through 2015, with a total global market size of $103 billion in 2010.
Though it is still early to take a call, Google+ has shown signs of keen user engagement, according to Google :)  with already millions of users in Google/gmail , it would be not difficult to convert them into Google plus. And I am sure in coming days there’s a lot of magic still in store for Google to offer the socially active consumers!
With Google+ profile page Google should be excited about boosting the business experience with rich analytics and the ability to connect that identity to Google’s major money-making AdWords business. Google is also testing on business page demand and guess will also cross sell the analytics as a service to them. So cross selling huh!
User interaction is also a buzz in the advertising word and I think Google through Plus should be encasing the shift. There are also more in advertising . This social media war is in essence the defining battle for the future of the advertising business, and we should all be paying close attention.

Backward Integration
Yes ..its BI for Google Plus with rest of universe to connect and reconnect not only with user profile but also to hone the loose treads on its advertising offerings / engines with Adsense and Adwords. Further adding it to the mobile online space, I think it’s gonna rock invinciblein virtual space.
Also we know that Google has Search engine capabilities, strong datacenter farming, browser, analytics, ad engines, etc etc. So this is just to integrate all together with a people and + experience.

Did I mention Tulalip!

Ok ..people ..MICROSOFT is working on its secret plan or call it just a coincident. Well whatever,

It was entitled Tulalip and promised users to “find what you need and share what you know easier than ever’. There was a page that displayed features which allowed users to connect via Facebook and Twitter, but no Google+. There were some links to ‘See how it works’ amongst others but obviously didn’t work. Source: http://www.socl.com/

So in coming days there would be so much to come.

Google + Dominate or not …it would be interesting to see if we dominate the sudden change, and shift our browser usage.

The analysis:

I am not sure if this theory hold true…but there’s no harm in trying

In the year 2005 (Mid 2005) I signed myself in Orkut. And there began a journey to a whole new world of time pass. This time it was a smart move, I said to myself. Days went by happily. Suddenly in 2008 (Mid 2008) I was introduced to Facebook. I felt I had hit the jack pot. I liked the color blue , and it was a refreshing feel coming out if the pink feel of Orkut. And now its mid 2011 my appetite for socializing is again challenged and I am in the verge of the shift.

So the point I want to bring in is if there is any logic to the social networking self life or cycle in the social networking space. With reference to the above situation, I SEE a trend - THAT in  every 3 years the social networking market wakes up to a new change, and people kind of starts adopt it . So the fact is how companies in the social media space is enticing the user preference and user experience. I see its again 3 years and its again time for Google to divide the market preferences by adding more users with Plus (ofcourse) which will help Google multiply the business.

Techno brAND syndrome

Technology is no longer an aspiration, and should be included in the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need!

So why I am saying is because of the recent survey By Afaqs.com on Buzziest Brands of 2011. Out of which The top 15 buzziest brands give out a peculiar trend. There are 6 technical brands and 5 telecommunication brands. This makes one realize how important technology has become in today’s world.

For more read : http://trak.in/tags/business/2011/02/28/top-buzziest-brands-india/

CW ji…

I know it’s a history now … but I thought to bring the dead (topic) to life.

Post Dabaag, it was GWG …I don’t know it was meant to be a HIT or it hit the brand India! However, I believe India is bigger and no event should tarnish the image and the potential of the market as the MNC would see it. It’s part of the business.


Ok …I don’t know the real issue hovering around the CWG all I could gather from the past one month before the CWG launch from the media sources that its certainly gonna dent the brand India. The not so anticipated CWG for many including me was then became the most awaited block-buster topic at almost every corner of many offices, parking areas, the coffee shop, the bloggers lane and the joggers link (sorry pls swap the words). It’s working as detox. And the media covering every inch of it, making life worse for Mr. Kill Madi :P :S anyways you got it right.


But I don’t want to blame Mr. Killer you know…Why? Firstly, the matter of fact is that this guy Mr. Killer is doing the job, the job of spending big amount. So what if the roof was falling and bridge did collapse and treadmills were rented for some fancy numbers. The bigger picture was he was trying …let’s appreciate the guy Mr. Killers whose experience doesn’t allow him to do such jobs. And in public sector you learn things in hard ways…so CWG is/was in the learning process. If we really want to blame, we need to blame the system who appointed Mr. Killer for this job. Secondly, why there was no PPP (Public Private Partnership). Thirdly, why media was jumping around when the D day was nearing creating more panic and negativity. What were they doing a year ago? It should have helped the work to finish fast. Fourthly, there was heavy rain (as Ms Dikshit mentioned); the sky was falling kind stuff. And fifthly, there is certainly a sixth angle in it.


The real issue and the point I want to bring here is, this CWG is a tip of the iceberg of corruption; procrastinated work; the ‘chalta hai’ syndrome; the lousy project planning of government; the tut u mai mai; bla and blue . The CWG situation is present every day of my life, your life, Indian life - the corruption touches us every morning. Today its news for you, tomorrow you will become the news. The matter of fact is what the point of discussion when the system is so corrupted (am I right Mr. Raja). Ever since I had paid road tax, I still haven’t enjoyed much of good roads in Bangalore (and for your knowledge, the road tax in Bangalore is the highest in India). Even the road in Bihar and Jharkhand is better; please visit Jamshedpur to test it. The fact is the common wealth of man in India is never being utilized properly, and it is, and has become the way of our life and system. So why do we need to be so vocal about CWG? However, in the end, there was a happy ending - like a Karan Johar movie. There were balloons flying and A R Rehman rocked on the D day. So chill.


It’s only in days to come that we will find if the brand image of India gets a beating. The world had watched and is watching, but as they say ‘we shall overcome’. I mean we should, what you say Mr. Killer!


All the best … it happens only in ‘Incredible India’